A new website is helping every-day people have a greater voice in Olympia this year.

It's called truelobby.com.

For the first time, it brings lawmakers, lobbyist and people like you and me together in one place to hash out the bills working their way through the legislature.the old saying goes, making laws is like making sausage... a process you don't want to witness first-hand.

Having a say in the process has often been expensive, and time-consuming but truelobby.com is hoping to change that.

The site is the brainchild of former state representative Mike Sherstad.

He says lawmakers have been wired for more than a decade, but says truelobby takes it to a whole new level.
 
Sherstad says, "E-mail was supposed to be easy. It was supposed to make it easier for people to let their legislators know what's going on. and the first e-mails started coming into congress and the state level in 1995."

Today, Sherstad says lawmakers can get a thousand or more e-mails in a single day.
     
Far too many to answer, or even read.
     
Sherstad says truelobby fixes *that* problem by sorting the topics and connecting you to the right people.

Sherstad says, "We allow legislators to get back with their constituents in a matter of seconds or minutes, with a thoughtful response."

Here's how it works: on truelobby, you create a profile, which includes your legislative district, and a link to your lawmakers.

You can track bills by number, or issue, and get alerts anytime something changes.

And each bill has a separate page that everyone weighs in on... lawmakers, lobbyists and you.

"The new technology that we provide allows someone to testify all the way up until the time that bill is signed into law. and they can change their testimony. legislators can see it. it's real-time." says Sherstad.

He continues, " ...and i think it'll change the way our democracy works.

Trulobby.com is free to register.